Geoffrey CHAUCER: CANTERBURY TALES.

Prologue: In the prologue the author is describing how he went on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. By the way he rested in a pub in Southwark and there he met a group of twenty nine people. These are pilgrims too, so the author joined this group. There were: knight, his son, nun Eglantine, another nun, chapel, three priests, friar Hubert, student from Oxford, jurist, landowner, shopper, carpenter, cook, shipsman, doctor, woman from Bath, parson, farmer, reeve, miller, and many others. And later the innkeeper joined them. Rytier: bol veľmi vážený človek, čo horlil za rytiersky stav od chvíle, kedy po prvý raz vysadol na koňa. Miloval pravdu a česť, slobodu a vyberané dvorné spôsoby. Kde prišiel, všade si ho vážili pre jeho vyberané spôsoby. Bol však nielen udatný, ale aj múdry a v spôsoboch taký jemný ako panna, po celý život nevypustil z úst jediné hrubé slovo.
Mních: urastený a životaschopný muž, zaľúbený do koňov a poľovačiek. Pretože sa mu regula rádu sv. Benedikta zdala staromódna a veľmi prísna, pustil ju z hlavy a nedodržiaval ju. Ani len mizerné kurča by nedal za názor, že nemôže byť dobrým a bohumilým mníchom, ak je poľovník a že mních, ktorý sa nezdržiava iba v kláštore je ako ryba na suchu.
Fráter: bol veselý a rostopašný žobravý mních. Hriešnikom, čo mu dobre zaplatili, ukladal mierne pokánie, lebo bol toho názoru, že človek, čo nie je skúpy, už svojou štedrosťou prejavuje pravú kajúcnosť. Krčmy poznal v každom meste a viac sa ráčil s výčapníkmi a krčmárskymi paholkami ako s lazármi a žobrákmi. Lebo váženémučloveku ako on sa nepatrí obcovať s takouto háveďou. This company started their pilgrimage to Canterbury. And because they are bored the innkeeper has an idea. Each of them has to tell to others two tales during the journey. One during the way to Canterbury and the other during the way back. The person, who tell the best tale win a free meal, which must pay the others. So they started.

Millers tale: The miller told a tale about a carpenter. That carpenter had an nice young wife called Alison. In his house there lived also a young poor student called Nicholas. Carpenter went away for two days and Nicholas lock himself in his room for that time. When the carpenter returned from his journey he was curious what is Nicholas doing for two days in his room. So he sent a boy to spy what is happening. The boy knocked on the door, but nothing happened.